FTOPS XIX Setting Records

The latest edition of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series has been well underway for more than a week now, and the past weekend offered up the tournament’s most exciting turnouts and payouts yet. As we previously noted, the FTOPS has been growing steadily since its inception in 2006, but the response to the FTOPS XIX has been overwhelming.

All in all the FTOPS XIX has 45 events on offer with more than $22 million in guaranteed payouts. Sounds good, right? Well thus far into the tournament the added entries have yielded prize pools that go above and beyond the predicted payouts. Full Tilt’s new multi-entry feature has been especially successful, helping the site to set a new record for buy-ins. Proving the popularity of the multi-entry feature and also of budget events, Event #22 alone – $120 + $9 NL Hold’em Knockout – garnered 23,342 entries, resulting in a prize pool that was more than double the guaranteed $1 million.

Another multi-entry event, Event #24 – $300 + $22 NL Hold’em – set a different record. The larger buy in meant fewer entries (though still impressive with 11,343), but it also meant a larger prize pool. When all was said and done and registration closed, the event had a whopping $3,402,900 to pay out. That’s nearly $400,000 more than the last FTOPS record for prize money.

So what exactly was won and who won it? In the record-setting Event #22, LilPokerGirlie ultimately came out on top with daCav04 coming in second. The players had made a deal early in the heads-up action, resulting in daCav04 taking the largest payout – $290,000 – despite his second place finish. LilPokerGirlie wasn’t too far behind, though, netting $279,428 for their epic win. Event #24 had a similar story, where eventual winner Alexander “AD_84” Debus earned $341,268 versus second place finisher Jason “NovaSky” Koon’s $458,550 prize. The three-way deal also allowed third place finisher O0Brian0O to claim a larger than expected payout of $336,750.

In other big FTOPS XIX news, Sunday also saw the beginning and end of the tournament’s first $10,000 NL Hold’em Heads-Up competition. At the end of the day, it was Scott Clements vs Alessio Isaia. The two powerhouses decided to hedge their bets and split the prize money evenly, allowing both to take home a substantial $285,500 payout despite Clements’ eventual win.

At the end of the day, we’re now two-thirds of the way through FTOPS XIX with 30 events in the books. Tomorrow’s big event will be the $1 million guaranteed NL Hold’em 6-Max Rebuy. Saturday will see the start of the tournament’s sole $2 million guaranteed which will conclude on Sunday along with the $1 million guaranteed NL Hold’em 6-Max Knockout and the $3,000,000 guaranteed Main Event.

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